Washington - (AFP) US President Joe Biden will receive Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersen and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on Thursday at the White House, his spokeswoman Karen Jean-Pierre announced in a statement Tuesday.

The spokeswoman said, "They will discuss the nominations of Finland and Sweden to join NATO, European security, as well as support for Ukraine" in light of the Russian attack on it.

The White House announcement comes as the Finnish parliament has just voted in favor of joining NATO, by an overwhelming majority of more than 95%, allowing the official nomination to be sent to the alliance.

Sweden officially announced its candidacy on Monday, and the Prime Minister spoke on this occasion of a "new era" for this Scandinavian country.

By taking the time to receive the Swedish prime minister and the Finnish president, before departing on a long-scheduled diplomatic tour to Asia, Joe Biden wanted to forcefully express his support for the two countries' accession to NATO.

At this time, Turkey, a member of the alliance in which it has veto power to stop any expansion of the bloc, is threatening to obstruct this process.

Sweden and Finland, which were historically non-aligned, have made a historic turn since Russia invaded Ukraine, which led to a major change in public opinion in the two countries.

With the exception of Ankara, other NATO member states received the news of the two nominations with enthusiasm.

The United States has previously hinted that it will provide security guarantees to the two countries throughout the accession process.